The invention relates to monolithically integrated semiconductor array having a number of standard elements that can be connected together using one or more metalization layers to form different signal processing units.
Such arrays are used in particular in the field of customized integrated circuits and are known from--for example--EP-PS 20 116, which describes an array having a plurality of prefabricated base cells on a semiconductor chip. The base cells each contain transistors, diodes, resistors and other components. The arrays with prefabricated base cells are manufactured in large numbers without signal processing circuits being already realized on the semiconductor chip. The circuit arrays are then produced by the individual design of the metalization layers. Since only a few masks are necessary for this process step, depending on the complexity of the circuit array, production of small quantities in line with customer requirements is possible. As a result, small production quantities of customized circuits can be manufactured at acceptable costs.
A monolithic circuit array for detection of light signals, and further signal amplification and processing is known from DE-PS 40 06 504. A drawback of this known monolithic circuit array is however that it is not suitable for inexpensive production in small quantities.